Words Heard in Silence (75 page)

"Shamus Davison, Otis Dumpire, and Edward Osborn, you are charged with the crimes of rape, theft, and assault on a civilian. Because you have broken the terms of your dismissal, you are also charged with failure to obey a commanding officer and dereliction of duty. On the charges of rape, theft, and assault, you are to be remanded to civilian authorities, as is appropriate because of your discharge from the Army. Only after the civilian authorities have pursued their charges will you then be tried on the military charges. Consider well, men. Mr. Samuelson will be along shortly to tend to your injuries."

Young Lieutenant Swallow led the detail assigned to guard duty, supported by Raiford, the new color bearer. Raiford and the other guards unshackled the men, one at a time, and marched them into the empty storage room at the back of the overseer’s office. A few minutes later, Samuelson arrived. Raiford volunteered to go in with him.

As they opened the door, the three men exploded out of their makeshift prison. One stiff-armed Samuelson, who fell unconscious. Another grappled with Raiford for his carbine, while the third went for Swallow. Young Swallow reacted as he had been trained. He fired his pistol, one clean shot to the heart. Raiford’s carbine went off at almost the same time, blasting up through the jaw and brain of his assailant. The third man was running; Dewees dropped him with two shots in the back.

Dewees checked on Samuelson and the other men. Apart from the obvious fact that the medic had a glass jaw, all of the men were healthy, if somewhat shaken. All three miscreants were dead. Dewees was just ordering a detail to handle the bodies as Charlie, Richard, and Jocko roared around the corner, the two officers with side arms drawn. They drew up short as soon as they saw the three bodies on the ground.

"Captain Dewees reporting, sir. The prisoners attempted to escape, assaulting several of our men. As is standard procedure, we responded with force. I am sorry, sir, that we were unable to bring them to trial, but to be honest, I am just as glad it ended this way. Good riddance to bad trash."

Charlie looked at the bodies crumpled in the mud, then at the faces of the men around him. These were the same men who had marched, slept, eaten, and fought side by side with those lying in the mud. There was not a single face that showed any grief for the loss of a comrade. Perhaps justice had been done.

C
harlie and Jocko walked back to the house, leaving Richard to oversee the burial detail, handle the paper work and dispatch a messenger to Mayor Frazier. It was time for Charlie to meet with Mrs. White and carry the news that she would not have to undergo the strain of a trial.

They mounted the back stairs and walked down the hall to her room. Just as they knocked on Mrs. White’s door, the door to Constance’s room burst open and a small tornado with black hair burst out. Having been extremely good during her morning visit with her mother, she was full of energy and ready to play.

"Papa!" Em ran over and threw herself at him, wrapping around his legs and trying to climb him like a tree.

Esther White had been up and pacing when the knock came on her door. Like everyone else in the house, she had heard the gunshots. She opened the door to the highly amusing vision of a tall, slender black-haired officer being climbed by a small, eager black-haired monkey child. It was a vision so far from what she expected that she could not help but burst out laughing.

While she laughed, Charlie settled Em in the crook of his left arm and admonished her, "Be good, now, Papa has to talk to the nice lady."

Em curled into Charlie's shoulder and watched the woman as her Papa walked into the room.

"You are this child's father, General? How is that possible?"

"No, Mrs. White, I am not. I simply resemble her father. Her mother is unwell and is advanced in another pregnancy, so Em has rather attached herself to Rebecca and me. Welcome to our home, although I would have wished it to be under much more pleasant circumstances." Charlie was obviously comfortable in the role of father to the little imp who was peeking at Mrs. White through her fingers, flirting and smiling.

"Thank you. It was very kind of Miss Rebecca to take me in." The older woman reached out and ran her fingers through Em's bangs. "Something has happened? I heard the shots. Was anyone hurt?"

"I must inform you that the prisoners attempted to escape and were killed in the ensuing ruckus. Perhaps the good news, ma’am, is that you will not have to undergo the strain of a trial."

She lowered her eyes and said a quiet prayer. Then she looked back to Charlie. "Thank you, General. I am grateful for your assistance and your honesty."

"Mrs. White, I do understand this may be a difficult time for you. You are welcome to stay here for as long as you wish. In fact, if you are up to it, I suspect that Mrs. Gaines would enjoy the additional company. It seems the house has been taken over by women in a wedding planning frenzy."

"Oh yes, John had mentioned that during one of his visits. Congratulations, General."

Charlie’s eyebrow rose. The last time anyone had called Jocko ‘‘John’ was when he took his induction oath. "Yes, thank you, ma’am."

"You mentioned the child’s mother is expecting and unwell? I am a midwife; perhaps I could be of some assistance."

"I suspect so. Mrs. Adams has been under Dr. Walker’s care, but unfortunately, she is not due until after I believe we will be ordered back to the field. Dr. Walker will be with our support staff then. Perhaps you can discuss it with Dr. Walker and Mrs. Adams after you have had a chance to recover yourself."

Mrs. White smiled and nodded agreement. "Perhaps I shall, General."

Just then, Em tugged on Charlie’s lapel. "Papa?"

"Yes, Em?"

"Em good. Papa give pwesent now?"

Charlie flushed. In the fracas surrounding the arrest of Davison and his henchmen, he had totally forgotten about the doll he had bought her in Washington. "Yes, little one. You have been very good." He turned to Mrs. White. "Madam, I believe our young lady has demanded some attention from her Papa. So if I may excuse myself?"

Esther White nodded, and Charlie excused himself with a small bow. She watched as the tall man carried the daughter of his heart off to his room and the promised gift.

T
he day had been a long one, stressful in different ways for all members of the household. Most significantly, it had been a day where Charlie had no time alone with Rebecca. Other than the period when all had wondered over the fate of Davison and his men, the women had been occupied with wedding plans. As a result, the small ring box in his breast pocket was burning a hole in his chest.

By dinner, everyone was tired, and by mutual agreement, all withdrew for some quiet time in their rooms and an early bedtime. Charlie slipped up to their sitting room ahead of Rebecca, with a bottle of champagne and two glasses in hand. He built up the fire and dimmed the lamps. He was ready.

He joined Rebecca in the hall, and they both went to tuck young Em into bed for the night. Then, with a gallant bow, he swept open the door to Rebecca’s personal bower.

Rebecca smiled at him as she looked into the room before entering. "What has gotten into you tonight, Charlie?"

"I not only bought Em a present, I also got a couple of things for you, dear, and I wanted to give them to you."

She looked at him very carefully. He was in a rare, playful mood and she found she rather enjoyed this side of her normally reserved General. "Is that so? And what may I ask, have you found?"

"Well, there is the mundane. I went to my bank, put my accounts in both of our names, and opened a fund for you. Here, my love. It is the paperwork. I think you will find you are a rather wealthy woman in your own right. Consider it my engagement present." With a flourish, he laid the paperwork on the small table beside her. The top page noted Rebecca’s personal account of fifty thousand dollars. She riffled through the other papers, seeing the total sum in their joint accounts that made her eyes widen. The last documents were Charlie’s will and his military pension.

She turned to him, not quite knowing what to say. "I...I...Charlie it is too much..."

He took her in his arms. "No, dear. It is just a fraction of what I wish I could give you. To me, you are worth more than all the money in the world. While I am gone, you will have a great many issues to deal with. This gives you the financial freedom to do so. In just a few weeks, I will stand up and pledge "And all my worldly goods I thee endow." I just got a head start on it."

She smiled and kissed him. "Thank you, Charlie," she sighed and laid her head on his shoulder. "Are you as nervous as I am?"

"About marrying you or about the wedding?"

"Both?"

He laughed and settled on the davenport in front of the fire with her in his lap. "I am always nervous about public events and ceremonies. I worry about falling over my sword; I worry my jacket will get tucked into my trousers; I worry I will say or do something stupid; I worry I will give myself away. But as to marrying you," he stopped and tenderly kissed her under the curve of her jaw, his lips whispering just below her ear. "As for marrying you, it is the best thing I have ever done and will ever do. I am joyous, excited, can barely wait, but no, I am not nervous about it." He slipped his hand inside his jacket. She had felt an odd little lump under her shoulder where it rested against his coat. They adjusted their position a little as he pulled the small box out. "I thought you needed something of your own, so I got you these. One is for now, the other two are for later."

Rebecca looked at the rings in Charlie's hand. "Charlie, they are beautiful."

Charlie extracted one ring. It was an emerald, cut in a fine square and surrounded by a rosette of diamonds, all mounted in white gold. In the firelight, the stones flashed and sparkled. "Give me your hand, my love."

Rebecca tried to stop her hand from shaking as she presented it, but was not as successful as she would have liked. All she could do was give Charlie an embarrassed little smile.

Charlie carefully slipped the small garnet ring she had been wearing off her left hand ring finger. He then just as carefully placed the emerald at the tip of her finger and asked again, "Rebecca Gaines, will you marry me? All of me. The man and the woman? Will you let me love you for the rest of our lives, and share with you all that I have and all that I am? Will you raise our children with me, and build a life filled with love and laughter together?"

Words were far beyond Rebecca's reach at this very moment in time and all she could do was nod and try to hold back the happy tears that threatened to escape. Finally she drew a deep breath and managed to whisper, "Yes."

Charlie slipped the ring on her finger. It settled firmly, as if it were a part of her hand. Then he gathered her close in his arms and they sat, holding one another, until the need for sleep overtook them.

M
r. Cooper drove the big wagon behind the house and pulled the tarp back to show Charlie the lovely rosewood spinet piano in the back. Mrs. Cooper sat up on the box, waiting for the men to figure out how to move the heavy instrument.

It was unusual for Mr. Cooper to deliver anything personally; it was far more unusual for Mrs. Cooper to accompany him, but today she wanted to have a word with the General, and then assist Rebecca in the final preparations for the wedding.

Charlie, Jocko, and Duncan sweated in the cool air, carefully moving the piano and matching stool off the wagon and into the house. They stashed it in the musicians’ alcove in the ballroom, from which they could move it into the front parlor quickly and relatively painlessly on the morning of the wedding.

Charlie then invited the Coopers to join him in his office for a cup of tea. Mr. Cooper declined, citing the need to return to his store. Mrs. Cooper accepted, after Charlie assured her one of his men would be happy to drive her home later.

"Mrs. Cooper, I do appreciate what you and your husband have done to get Rebecca’s wedding present. I am sure that dealing with Mrs. Williams in my behalf was…… challenging."

"Well, Mrs. Williams would certainly have not accommodated you if she had known what Mr. Cooper’s plans were. I am sure she will be irritated when she finds out." She sipped her tea then said, "General, I am glad we have this few minutes together. There are a few things I wanted to discuss with you privately."

"Of course, Ma'am any thing I can do to be of assistance to you or Mr. Cooper."

"I was Rebecca’s mother’s very closest friend. We were almost like sisters, and I have always held Rebecca in a very special place in my heart. So, with her mother gone, there is no one but me to speak with you as a mother would. I hope you do not mind the presumption."

Charlie smiled. Then he sat up very straight in his chair. "No, of course not."

Mrs. Cooper paused for a moment and then began with a question. "What has Rebecca told you about her first marriage?"

"She has told me bits and pieces of her marriage to Mr. Gaines. Enough for me to surmise that she was treated very badly."

"She was treated very badly indeed. I personally believe he beat her, although she has never said anything directly."

Charlie nodded. "Yes, he did. She has confided that to me."

"I also believe he abused her…… conjugally."

Charlie swallowed hard. "I know from what she has said that he did. However, I am not sure Rebecca sees it for what it was."

Mrs. Cooper looked at him questioningly. "What do you mean, General?"

"I think Gaines had her convinced it was her duty and his right. She knew he was wrong and he was hurting her, but I do not believe she equates it with what happen to Mrs. Adams, because Gaines was her lawful husband."